1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for preparing and culturing cells. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for preparing and culturing bone marrow stromal cells.
2. Description of the Related Arts
In general, petri dishes are used for preparing bone marrow stromal cells. For example, the U.S. Pat. No. 5,942,225 discloses a method for preparing bone marrow stromal cells, comprising the steps of withdrawing bone marrow with a syringe, adding a medium and Percoll gradient, moving the part of mononuclear cells to a petri dish after centrifugation, replacing the medium after three days cultivation, removing impurities based on the attachment feature of stromal cells, and transferring stromal cells to another petri dish with a porous scaffold to continue culturing while achieving a certain amount of cells.
However, the method mentioned above includes several transfer steps during the cultivation which increases the possibility of contamination and cell loss. In addition, the method of placing a scaffold in a petri dish has a risk of losing cells in the petri dish that fail to attach to the scaffold. In other words, the efficiency for cell attachment is low leading to a lower utility of cells. Even if cells stay on the scaffold, they tend to sink to the base of the scaffold, resulting in an uneven distribution. Therefore, there is still a need for a solution to culture bone marrow stromal cells and it is the primary object of the present invention.